Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Tezuka Osamu Sakuhin Shuu - Jikken Animation Hen

This release appears to be, for the most part, an upscale of an older DVD compilation.

Most of the short films are of very poor quality. Only Tabako to Hai and Mori no Densetsu - Dai Ni Gakushou are available in full high definition with no visual defects. Of the others, Aru Machi Kado no Monogatari, Tenrankai no E, Muramasa and Mori no Densetsu - Dai Ichi, Dai Yon Gakushou are relatively clean upscales, and were only slightly filtered.

All other films suffer from distracting and tenacious artifacts, and were heavily filtered. The image quality should be greatly improved from the Blu-Ray (and DVD), but it is impossible to fully restore them, and some minor artifacts still remain noticeable, especially in Memory and Jumping. Most red areas have also been fully degrained.

The subtitles for each film were retimed, mostly retranslated and/or edited based on the Japanese subtitles, and typeset where needed. Most of the script for Souseiki is based on the 21st Century King James translation of the Holy Bible. The title cards of Tabako to Hai and Mori no Densetsu - Dai Ni Gakushou were translated and typeset as well (neither contains dialogue). Most of the credits written in Japanese remain untranslated.

Finally, this release is notably missing the interview with Tezuka Osamu included with the previous DVD releases of this compilation. It is available in this previous release, with official English subtitles. It is also missing the 5.1ch surround soundtrack of Mori no Densetsu - Dai Ichi, Dai Yon Gakushou, which is only available on the Japanese DVD release.